


in the moonlight

by wintercrystale



Series: in a universe without you [3]
Category: NU'EST
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Jonghyun is just a human, M/M, Minhyun is a moon child, Minki is his cat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-27
Updated: 2020-05-27
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:42:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,540
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24398212
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wintercrystale/pseuds/wintercrystale
Summary: Jonghyun knows a few languages, and the dancing man is definitely not singing any of those.The full moon's twinkle illuminates the man's white clothed figure and light colored hair. While the sight seems beautiful to Jonghyun, the dance movements are all the more breathtaking.
Relationships: Hwang Minhyun/Kim Jonghyun | JR
Series: in a universe without you [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1761733
Comments: 9
Kudos: 15





	in the moonlight

**Author's Note:**

> crossposted from my twitter! inspired by nu'est's moon dance. they say "dancing in the moonlight" i say minhyun is a moon child that comes to earth to dance with 'my i' wen junhui style appearance

The first time Jonghyun saw the dancing man on the hill, he was twenty and running away from his study obligations in university.

He'd had enough, tired from the continuous assignments and nonstop studying, so he decided to get some fresh air. His feet took him walking through the campus ground, then outside, then to the hill where the astronomy department's observatory was located.

Jonghyun walked leisurely, taking in all the night beauty he came across and taking a deep breath to clear his mind. The sky was clear with no sign of clouds and it felt perfect.

Upon nearing the observatory, he noticed a melodic tune coming from the open field near the tower. Were he sane, he would've thought better and made a run for it—what if it were some ghastly entity roaming around? But Jonghyun wasn't scared of the paranormals. Also, it could just be the astronomy majors having fun out there, so he decided to investigate.

Rounding the observatory, Jonghyun was met with a man dancing and singing to a foreign sound. Jonghyun knew a few languages, and the dancing man was definitely not singing any of those.

Not wanting to be found out, Jonghyun kept his side glued to the tower and observed closely.

The full moon's twinkle illuminated the man's white clothed figure and light colored hair. While the sight seemed beautiful to Jonghyun, the dance movements were all the more breathtaking.

The man danced in circles, outstretching his arms and legs elegantly, pirouetting as if it was something really easy to do. The tune continued flowing from the man's lips, as if unaffected by the energy he exerted on the dance.

Honest to God, Jonghyun didn't know what made this man dance and sing like that in the middle of the night, with only the moonlight shining on him and supposedly no human witness to it. Like a clandestine performance, it was as if Jonghyun wasn't supposed to be there in the first place. Watching the whole dance felt like a sin, like Jonghyun shouldn't be privy to such beauty.

Though, Jonghyun couldn't take his eyes off the man; even after a while, when Jonghyun noticed the man's dance routine went full circle and he started repeating what Jonghyun had already seen.

For a second, Jonghyun decided that he wanted to tell someone about this and possibly ask if they knew about the dancing man—Dongho, supposedly, since he's an astronomy major and if this was a recurring sight, someone ought to know about it.

Jonghyun took out his phone, started typing into the chat box with Dongho, and noticed something.

The singing voice was gone.

When Jonghyun looked up, the dancing man was not there anymore.

Blinking, Jonghyun was now pretty sure what he encountered wasn't something as human as he initially thought.

So, he ditched the thought of telling Dongho for now and just retraced his steps back to familiar territories—the campus, the dorm, then his bed.

The dance and the tune was stuck in Jonghyun's head, repeating itself again and again until he could hum the tune without the lyrics. It's too beautiful to be forgotten.

The next day when Jonghyun went to the same place, the man wasn't there.

Though it wasn't long until Jonghyun figured out that the man only danced there when the full moon was out.

It made him giddy, thinking like he just cracked the code of the universe. What made him want to see the man again, exactly? Jonghyun didn't know, he's just mesmerized and wanted to see it again. So he made it his personal mission to spare every full moon night to hike up the hill to the observatory and watch the man dance. He didn't tell Dongho about it in the end.

It became a routine; until a year passed. Then, something happened one fateful night.

Jonghyun never took it upon himself to approach the man and potentially ask about his being. He didn't, not even when Jonghyun could trace the man's facial features in his mind anytime he wanted, noticing that he couldn't see that clearly from afar, but knew that the dancing man was beautiful anyway.

One evening, Jonghyun found himself face to face with the dancing man.

It startled Jonghyun, sending his heart into a frenzy of panic, eyes widening, hand accidentally dropping his phone in the process. Just a second ago, Jonghyun had been holding his phone to record the performance. It was clearly a failed attempt.

Kindly, with a tilt of head and curious expression, the dancing man bent down to take Jonghyun's phone and held it in front of Jonghyun's face.

Taking the phone from the really beautiful, probably nonhuman entity, Jonghyun noticed that the man looked even more ethereal up close. The slant of his eyes, the soft curve of his lips, the unbelievably light skin complexion, his above average height, the almost white and fluffy hair, and his eyes slightly glowing a dim ocean blue.

That last fact was the only thing Jonghyun needed to know that the dancing man was, in fact, really not human.

Said dancing man spoke in his native tongue, the tone similar to what Jonghyun had been hearing all this time. Unfortunately, Jonghyun didn't speak the language.

"What?" Jonghyun blurted out unintelligibly.

The dancing man's eyes widened before he bursted into a fit of giggles. He took a deep breath, and the next words took Jonghyun by surprise.

"Who are you?" the dancing man asked with a smile on his face, closing up the personal space between them as he stepped closer and stared at Jonghyun from chin-height. "I know you've been watching me for quite a while now."

Jonghyun's eyes widened; first, from the fact that the man suddenly spoke his language and second, from the fact that this man had  _ known _ for a while that Jonghyun had been watching.

"I'm Jonghyun." Jonghyun stared as Minhyun walked around him to observe. "I'm sorry, I know it's rude."

"'s fine." Minhyun poked Jonghyun's shoulder—startling Jonghyun again—from the back and proceeded to move in front of Jonghyun again. "I'm Minhyun, I'm from the moon."

"From… the moon…?" Jonghyun blinked.

Minhyun's smile widened. "Yep!" then the smile dimmed as soon as it bloomed. "It's lonely up there, only my cat and I."

The more Minhyun spoke, the more confused Jonghyun got. Was this man speaking the truth?

"Though, we're both allowed to come down here every full moon, even if I have to do the Moon Dance." Minhyun touched Jonghyun's forehead with his forefinger, making Jonghyun flinch. "My cat is always around you when you're watching me."

"Oh." Jonghyun smiled sheepishly. "Is that how you know I'm here?"

"Yes, Minki told me."

"Minki?"

"My cat."

As if on cue, a black cat appeared from behind Minhyun's legs and meowed. Its eyes resembled Minhyun's, glowing but in a yellow hue. The bright yellow pair of eyes looked up at Jonghyun curiously. Minhyun took Minki and cradled it in his arms.

Jonghyun gathered some courage and reached out his hand to pat Minki.

It's just a normal cat.

"Why do you live on the moon if it's lonely?" Jonghyun queried, eyes watching the way Minki walked up to Minhyun's shoulders and let itself curl snugly there.

"Ah, it's a long story." Minhyun scratched his head. "But let's just say we were both cursed."

What an odd evening it had been.

"And can you break the curse?"

This sounded like a fairytale.

Minhyun's lips quirked up as his eyebrow raised. "Yeah, but let's just say I'm not allowed to tell anyone about it or I'll be a permanent resident on the moon."

"Oh."

"Yeah, oh." Minhyun scratched Minki's chin. "It's nice meeting you, Jonghyun, but sadly we have to go now."

Strangely, Jonghyun didn't want to part with the man yet. It's an out-of-this-world crazy encounter, but Jonghyun wished the man would stay a little longer.

"Likewise. Uh, see you next full moon?" Jonghyun voiced out, wishing he didn't sound so hopeful about the inquiry.

Minhyun's eyes glowed brighter as he beamed a smile. "That sounds great. Maybe I'll even teach you the Moon Dance and you can join me for it next time we meet."

"Okay." Jonghyun swore he didn't mean for that word to be the last one he said at the end of their meeting that evening.

He wanted to say something along the lines of a praise on the dance or suggest a simple handshake, but Minhyun already waved his hand at him and ran to his usual part of the hill.

Jonghyun almost shrieked when Minhyun threw Minki to the air, but the cat held onto a fabric of light and started climbing. That couldn’t be the weirdest thing Jonghyun found that night.

Minhyun turned around to look at Jonghyun one more time before what seemed like a rope of light was lowered to Minhyun and the dancer took it.

They both got pulled up to the sky; Jonghyun's eyes lingering on the man until his figure turned into a speck in the sky and disappeared into the general direction of the moon.

Jonghyun smiled. He wished it wasn't the last time they met.

**Author's Note:**

> thank you so much for reading!! if you ever want to be my friend, hmu on [twitter](https://twitter.com/wintercrystale) or yell at me on [cc](https://curiouscat.me/wintercrystale)!


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